STAMFORD -- A suspected electrical fire Wednesday morning sent flames through the walls of a seaside Shippan mansion belonging to former President Bill Clinton's White House counsel.

The blaze at the 6,200-square-foot home of attorney Bernard Nussman was called in at about 10:30 a.m. The alarm company told 911 dispatchers that a workman in the home was battling a fire inside a wall of the home.

More than 30 firefighters were dispatched to the two-alarm blaze at 100 Sea Beach Drive as winds gusting at 40 mph blew spray off the tops of waves crashing into the east facing seawall of the mansion. A huge ladder truck was sent to the scene to battle any blaze coming from the roof of the stately 1930s home.

Stamford Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief Tim Conroy said the fire began in an electrical outlet on the east facing wall. The fire ran up the wall and into the ceiling, Conroy said.

Firefighters had to tear open the first floor east wall and ceiling and second floor east facing wall to extinguish flames and make sure nothing else was ready to catch fire, Conroy said.

The house is undergoing renovations and workmen were present, but Conroy said it does not appear that the work is related to the fire.

There were no injuries reported.

"We kept the fire to minimal damage," said Conroy, adding that there was fairly heavy smoke damage to the mansion's first floor.

"The weather was a problem but we had enough people there to take care of what we had to do," Conroy said.

In 1973 Nussbaum was appointed as a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee staff charged with investigating the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of former President Richard M. Nixon. He was best known for being Clinton's chief lawyer for 15 months until his own resignation in March 1994.